Golfer&#39;s stance gauge



May 12, 1959 c. E. OLDS GOLFERS STANCE GAUGE Filed June 24, 1958 CLIFFORD E. OLDS IN VEN TOR.

United States Patent-O This invention relates to golfers stance gauges and backed blank overlay strips which may be placed over the indicated A and B scales for recording individua measurement if desired.

Fig. 6 is a top plan view of one of a pair of overlay strips similar to that shown in Figure designed for" the D and E scales.

Referring to the drawings, andparticularly to Fig. 1, we find that the golfers stance gauge has a foot spacing section generally indicated at 10 having inner and outer mutually telescoping portions 12 and 14 respectively, the terminal ends of the portions 12 and 14 having rearward- 1y projecting transverse pieces 16 attached thereto and which are adapted to be positioned in use at the forward .ends of the golfers shoes 18. Thepieces 16 are semore particularly it is an object of this invention to provide a golfers. stance gauge in which a forwardly projecting ball positioning section is slidable along a trans versely disposed foot positioning section.

A further object of the invention is to provide a stance .gauge as described in which the ball'positioning section and the foot'positioning section are formed of telescoping portions having mutually cooperating gauge indicia for indicating their relative amount of telescoping.

. "A further object is to'provide a gauge as described in which the indicia are in terms .of'variou's types of golf clubs for more speedy operation. I

Still another object of the invention is to provide an eifective device for locking and unlocking the sliding ball spacing section ri'gidly. to 'andquicklyfrom the foot spacing section. 1

A further object'of theinvention is to provide the ball spacing portion of the gauge with an auxiliary forward portion of longer "length to be used interchangeably with a shorter forward portion, the shorter forward portion being for shorter golfshots and the longerportion being for longer golf shots, with two scales .on the rearward portion of the ball spacing. section each cooperative with one of the forward portions 'of the. ball spacing section.

A particular object'of the invention is to provide a golfing gauge which is adapted to'be especially marked by an instructor in accordance with the :particular stature and golf swinging characteristics of the individual.

Another object is to incorporate or absorb in the indicated measurements of the ball positioning section of the device a three inch space between theend of the ball positioning sectionand the ball position to prevent contact of the club with the device duringuse.

Other and further objects and advantages of the present inventionwill be apparent from the following detailed description, drawings and claims, the scope of the inven tion not being limited to the drawingsthemselves as the drawings are only for the purpose ofillustrating a way in which theprinciples of this invention can be applied.

Other embodiments of the invention utilizing the same or equivalent principles may be used and structural changes may be made as desired by those skilled in the art without departing from the present invention and the purview of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the gauge of this invention shown in a use position with respect to a ball and to the feet of the user which latter are shown in dotted lines.

Fig. 2 is a view showing an auxiliary and interchangeable longer forward portion of the ball spacing section for long shots.

Fig. 3 is a view-in-section taken along the hue 3-3 of Fi 1.

l ig. 4 is a top plan view of the locking device portion of the invention, with parts broken away.

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of one of a pair of adhesive cured to the ends of the respective portions by rivets 17. t The portions 12 and 14 of the foot spacing section 10 have mutually cooperating gauging indicia thereon for determining the extent of telescoping. Such indicia include a scale 24 which is designated A in the drawing. The A scale has a plurality of spaced markings 26 each of which is labeled with a numeral and a letter. The letters are either I for iron or W for wood, referring to the type of golf club. The numeral indicates the size of the club. Measurements on the A scale are read from the left end edge 30 of the outer telescoping portion 14 and are to determine the width of the golfers stance. I

At 34 a B scale is indicated and has similar indicia 36 and when the right band edge 38 of the rearward portion 40 of the ball positioning section 42 is aligned with a selected indicia 36 indicates the ball 96 position with relation to the stance. The ball positioning or spacing section 42 extends forwardly from and transversely of a foot spacing section 10 and also comprises a forward portion 46 which is mutually telescoping with respect to the rearward portion 40.

Suitable means are provided for connecting the rearward end of the rearward portion 40 of the ball spacing section 42 to the outer portion 12 of the foot spacing section 10. The outer portion 12 of the foot spacing section 10 is so called because the outer portion 12 has two parts 50 and 52 which are disposed on opposite sides of the space 54 in which the inner portion 14 is received. The parts 50 and 52 are held together at their ends by the member 16 at one end and a certain interconnection member 56 at their other ends, the member 56 being secured also by rivets 57. v The parts 50 and52 are recessed on their inner longitudinal edges for receiving outwardly protruding longitudinal side edges of the inner telescoping portion 14.

The member 38 is suitably attached by rivets 60 or the like to the rearward ends of side pieces 64 and 66 of the rearward portion 40 of the ball positioning section 42, and the rearward ends of the parts 64 and 66 slid ably engage the forward side of the outer portion 12 of the-ballp'ositioning section 42.

The member 38 extends transversely across the top of the outer portion 12 of the foot spacing section and has two pins 70 extending downwardly therethrough in positions spaced on the rearward side of the outer portion 12 of the foot spacing section 10 as best seen in Fig. 4.

The pins 70 extend downwardly through and are secured in a bottom plate 76 which is spaced below the marginal end edge of the member 38 and a locking member 80 is disposed therebetween, the locking member 80 has two parallel elongated slots 82 which latter are disposed inclining at an acute angle with respect to the adjacent edge of the part 50 whereby it will be seen that the member 80 comprises a wedge means cooperative with and movably attached to the overlapping member 38 for wedging and unwedging against the rearward side 3 Qfflgepnfl 50 of the outer portion 12 of the foot placing sect on 10 for locking and unlocking the ball positioning section 42 rigidly to and quickly from the foot spacing section 10.

The ball spacing section 42 also carries on its forward and rearward portions 64 and 66 mutual cooperating gauging ndicia for determining the extent of the telescoping.

Such indicia includes a D scale with markings 90 which indicate the number of the club and whether it s an iron or wood club. The D scale is used in cooperation with a long forward part 46 and the scale is read opposite the rearward edge of the forward part 46.

A similar scale is indicated at E bearing difierent indicia difierently spaced and the E scale is used with the part 46 and is read at the rearward end of the part 46. The scales indicated on the device have been calculated from experiment and trial and error as an average. However, I have found that a slight adjustment of stance or ball position by an individual may be advantageous in thatsuch adjustment may .be the difference between a bad a a good sh t- Therefore, it is further my concept to provide means 'by which a player or student may experiment to find his proper stance and ball position enabling him to repeatedly duplicate that particular stance and ball position.

Such means include, with reference to Figures 5 and 6, adhesive-backed blank overlay strips 100 and 102.

The strips 100 are designed to overlay the scales fA and fB and the strips 102 are designed to overlay the scales D and E.

It will be understood that the adhesive backing 104 is preferably of the typewhereby the strips may be applied to the surface of the scales and removed therefrom without injury to either the scale or strip.

The upper surface of the strips 80 and 82 may be inscribed or marked upon with pen or pencil to indicate the adjustment for a particular stroke and club for the individual student.

When using the memory strips 80 and 82, the student can quickly adjust any part of the device experimenting with stance and ball position until he finds those that produce the best results. All data can be noted and recorded .on the strips during the most favorable playing for a later permanent record.

As thus described it will be seen that a professional can prescribe to a golfer the positions on the scale which best fit his particular golf swing characteristics. And it will be understood that the indicia can be erasable by a professional golf advisor and put in different places as seem to best fit the stature and golf stroke of the individual.

For that reason the indicia can either be erasable or blank guide strips can be provided so as to be laid over a printed scale if it should be discovered that a golfers characteristics do not fit the printed scale.

The stance gauge serves as a memory device so that practice may be conducted using professionally indicated golfing positions.

As thus described, it will be seen that the stance gauge of this invention fulfills the above described objectives.

From the foregoingdescription, it is thought to be obvious that a golfers stance gauge constructed in accordance with my invention is particularly well adapted for use, by reason of the convenience and facility with which it may be assembled and operated, and it will also be obvious that my invention is susceptible of some change and modification without departing from the principles and spirit thereof, and for this reason I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to the precise arrangement and formation of the several parts herein shown in carrying out my invention in practice, except as claimed.

I claim:

1. A golfers stance gauge comprising: a foot spacing section having inner and outer mutually telescoping portions, the terminal ends of said portions being adapted to be positioned in use at the forward ends of the golfers shoes, said portions of said foot spacing section having mutually cooperating gauge indicia for determining the extent of said telescoping, and a ball spacing section extending forwardly from and transversely of said foot spacing section, said ball spacing section comprising forward and rearward mutually telescoping portions, means slidably connecting the rearward end of the rearward portion of said ball spacing section to said outer portion of said :foot spacing section .in a manner whereby said rearward portion of said'ball spacing section is movable along said outer portion of said foot spacing section only longitudinally of said outer portion of said foot spacing section, and said portions of said ball spacing section also having mutually cooperating gauge indicia thereon for determining the extent of said telescoping.

2. The golfer s stance gauge of claim 1 in which said indicia on said sections is marked in terms of the various types of golf clubs.

3. The golfers stance gauge of claim 1 in which a part of said rearward portion of said ball spacing section slidably engages and abuts the forward side of the outer portion of said foot spacing section and in which said means for connecting said rearward portion of said ball spacing section to said outer portion of said foot spacing section comprises a member attached to the rearward end of the rearward portion of said ball spacing section and having an overlapping portion extending beyond the rearward side of the outer portion of the said foot spacing section, and wedge means cooperative with and movably attached by suitable means to said overlapping portion for releasably wedging against the rearward side of said outer portion of said foot spacing section for releasably loeking said ball spacing section rigidly to said foot spacing section.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,025,519 Lingg Dec. 24, 1935 2,180,170 Richard Nov. 14, 1939 2,457,351 Crowley Dec. 28, 1948 2,777,697 Crossot Jan. 15, 1957 2,790,642 Rolfe Apr. 30, 1957 

